Proparco, a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) group dedicated to the private sector, and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) have announced the granting of a EUR 165 million loan to finance the Biovea project in Côte d'Ivoire. The 46 MWe biomass power plant will be the first of its kind in Africa to supply renewable power to a national electricity grid.
The financing was granted by Proparco and EAIF to Biovéa Energie, which will design and construct the 46 MWe biomass power plant and operate it for a 25-year term.
Biovéa Energie is an Ivorian company jointly owned by Electricité De France (EDF), Meridiam, and Biokala, a joint venture created by Meridiam and SIFCA Group, a major agro-industrial player in West Africa. EAIF – a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company – is managed by Ninety-One.
EAIF is contributing to the project with a loan of approximately EUR 30 million and PIDG is providing an investment grant of EUR 8 million. Proparco provides financing on preferential terms consisting of a concessional loan of EUR 135 million and an investment grant of EUR 5 million.
Use palm waste
The biomass power plant will be fueled by approximately 450 000 tonnes of palm waste, made available by PalmCi, a subsidiary of SIFCA.
Palmci will source 30 percent of the biomass needed for the plant from its own palm oil plantations and 70 percent from independent smallholders in the area.
The project will help create 500 local jobs during the plant’s construction phase and more than 1 000 jobs or full-time equivalent during the operation phase.
The biomass provided by smallholders should generate an average increase in their annual income of 20 percent.
In the operational phase, the project is estimated to avoid the emission of around 340 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) per year.
Biovéa is an innovative renewable energy project that places Côte d’Ivoire on a virtuous climate trajectory in accordance with the commitments of the Paris Agreement. It contributes to the development of a sustainable agricultural supply and the production of renewable energy from local fuels. Proparco is extremely proud to have supported EDF, Meridiam, and SIFCA, three clients with whom we have been working to develop and finance this project from the very beginning. This project will contribute to creating jobs, increasing household incomes in rural areas, and also avoiding significant CO2 emissions, commented Grégory Clemente, CEO of Proparco.
In 2018, a EUR 90 million loan had already been granted by Proparco (lead manager), FMO – its Dutch counterpart – and Société Générale, to SIFCA Group in order to finance the agricultural investments of its subsidiaries and to contribute to the social and economic development of the region.
